


the truth reflects in your eyes

by evanescent



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, hidekaneweek, okay part 6 is sad as heck but there is a happy ending, this is going to be mostly happy..... i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-14
Packaged: 2018-02-28 17:07:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2740331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evanescent/pseuds/evanescent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hide’s voice brings him back to present and suddenly, it seems like great part of the burden was lifted from Kaneki’s chest. He feels an awful less scared now.</p><p>-</p><p>A series of one-shots written for the setting in which Kaneki told Hide about him being half-ghoul.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. day 1

**Author's Note:**

> happy hidekane week y'all everybody! /throws snowflakes at u (don't worry i have a lot)/
> 
> writing seems above me lately - not to mention, finishing things, but let's have hope for this, shall we? also, good or bad i don't know, but i think only this first prompt turned out to be that long. the next things should be ~drabbles indeed!
> 
>  
> 
> day 1: firsts / _big confession_ / _bookstore date_

It’s Hide who comes up with the offer, much to Kaneki’s surprise.

“Hey, Kaneki,” he says, absent-mindedly tapping his fingers at the counter as the news flash on the TV in Anteiku, “how about going to that new bookstore near the university tomorrow?”

“Eh?” Kaneki turns his head from the coffee maker and looks at Hide, startled. “And where this idea came from?”

Hide makes a face. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe from the fact that my best friend is a total bookworm who is busy at work or doing who knows what lately and doesn’t have time for me?”

Kaneki’s mouth twitches slightly and he does feel a little guilty. “Hide…”

“Kidding, man.” Hide grins at him and takes a sip of his coffee. “But we haven’t done that in a while, have we? And besides, next week there comes out that new movie with giant aliens you promised months ago we will go to, remember? So,” he puts his index finger in the air, “it’s only fair this way.”

“Ah, right…” Kaneki feels himself relax a little. Hide has been talking about this movie for a long time indeed. “My shift ends tomorrow around four, after that?”

His friend only nods and they fall into comfortable silence. It makes Kaneki think that this is one of the things they are used to doing; Hide going with him to the premiere of a new book by an author he likes or to check out a bookstore somewhere nearby, or Kaneki agreeing on watching some really weird sci-fi movie on the opening night, or to check out video games. Even if he doesn’t always ends up liking the things Hide chose, Kaneki enjoys doing this. And not for the first time, he wonders that, if Hide _knew_ , they wouldn’t be doing that anymore, and this twists something in Kaneki’s stomach. He questions who is being unfair in this kind of situation.

“Kanekiii,” Hide drools out, demanding attention, and when Kaneki gives him that, he finds his friend resting his chin on the counter. He is about to scold him for doing so when Hide speaks up again, “Don’t over think things so much.” At that, Kaneki does his best to frown, but inside he feels alarmed. Hide can be perceptive, he knows he shouldn’t forget that, but his mouth is too dry to come up with a remark. But then Hide tilts his head and says, “I like going to bookstores with you, anyway. Remember when we went to the night premiere of the last Harry Potter? Man, that was awesome.”

Despite this strange, unsettling feeling, Kaneki can’t help but smile at the memory. “Yeah, it was. I still remember how you got so excited over special effects that you accidentally bumped into that large stack of books and ruined the construction.”

“I can’t believe you’re calling me out on this now,” Hide accuses, pouting. “They were all _hardcovers_ , Kaneki, do you have any idea how much that hurt?”

He tries, he really does, but it’s hard not to laugh at that and Hide dramatically refuses to leave him a tip as he walks out of the shop, reminding him about tomorrow. Kaneki once again wonders if, after all these years, this whole ghoul thing is the final matter he can’t tell his friend about.

…

As it turns out, the new bookstore is really great. Kaneki appreciates very much how neatly the sections are parted and how large are the bestsellers and classics ones. He thinks it may be a chance to finally complete his collections of Kafka’s works. Hide keeps walking beside him except for those few minutes he disappears in the manga section, claiming he needs to catch up with Naruto. Kaneki kind of doubts he can do that, but he chooses to keep quiet about it.

“Oh, look,” Hide says, pointing out to some shelf with bestsellers. “That author you like so much, Takatsuki Sen, was that so?”

“Ah, yes.” Kaneki turns his gaze, glancing at the all too familiar covers. As much as he likes Takatsuki’s books, they seem to almost persistently follow him since… that all started. He watches Hide pick up nothing else than _The Black Goat’s Egg_.

“The book combines brutal descriptions with a delicate portrayal of the main character’s mental state,” Hide reads out loud from the back cover. “Ah, that’s the one you had in Anteiku back when…” He trails off and looks over his shoulder at Kaneki. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring this up now.”

“No, that’s…” Kaneki doesn’t finish the sentence and just watches Hide put the book back on the shelf. It feels like his hands are itching and he adjusts his eyepatch. Not that much time has passed since the incident with Nishiki; how much more dancing around they can keep doing around this all before Hide finally puts some things together? Kaneki knows he should be doing everything in order not to let that happen and yet, isn’t he just delaying the inevitable? The thread is thin and bound to drop.

“Hide?” Kaneki thinks he can do this. They are in the store, surrounded by people, Hide can leave at any moment if he wants to. Kaneki isn’t going to stop him if that would be the case.

“Yeah?” Hide turns around to look at him and Kaneki suddenly wishes for two contrary things; to run out of the words as well as not to.

“The truth is, I…”

He hesitates for a second and that’s when a couple comes from behind the other bookstall, the girl almost dragging the boy, saying, “Look, here are Takatsuki-sensei’s works, I’m dying to read that collection of short stories…”

Hide steps out out of the way for the two and shifts his attention back to Kaneki, watching him with a smile, but somewhat carefully. “Sorry, what were you saying?”

“Ah, nothing important, I just remembered I need to finish my essay for Asian history,” he answers quickly, rubbing his chin. Kaneki knows this is a lame excuse and Hide probably won’t buy it, but he has to try regardless. “I’m going to go the toilet before we go back, okay?”

His friend gives him a long look, but Hide doesn’t question his behavior and just nods. When he is in the bathroom, Kaneki takes a few deep breaths and mentally scolds himself for what he was about to do. After all, Touka told him that she will get rid of Hide if he finds out and as much Kaneki wants to believe she wouldn’t go as far as to kill him, he knows she wasn’t joking. He realizes he almost slipped back in the store and really, he should be careful.

When he is back, he finds Hide waiting for him with a package.

“Did you buy a book?” Kaneki asks him, trying to sound natural, though he is genuinely surprised at that.

Hide chuckles and says, “Well, actually, it’s for you.” He hands him in the package. “Call it an early birthday present.”

Kaneki wants to notice that there is indeed a lot of time left till his birthday, but he just blinks, too startled. Eventually, he settles for, “Shouldn’t you be giving this to me just in December, though? You’re ruining the element of surprise, Hide.”

“Well, in my opinion, you looked pretty surprised when I said it’s for you, so don’t know about that.” He smiles. “I trust you, Kaneki. Though I’m not sure if you will be able to resist the temptation and wait till your birthday, but hell, my loss.”

“Uh, okay.” Kaneki takes the gift from his friend. It feels a little strange; it’s not the first time Hide is giving him a birthday present, of course, but something feels different about this. Or maybe it’s just him freaking out because of the incident in the bookstore. “Thank you, Hide.”

His friend only waves his hand dismissively and starts talking about the movie next week, and Kaneki feels all too glad he didn’t end up saying anything earlier, because the prospect of not having Hide by his side is all too dark to handle.

…

Of course, Hide was right on that one -- it’s hard to resist and not check what kind of the book he bought for Kaneki, especially since there is no essay for Asian history to be written. In his defense, Kaneki wants to say he was trying, but early at night, he failed finally.

The present turns out to be a collection of Kafka’s short stories and Kaneki smiles seeing that. Hide had to catch him staring at this exclusive edition earlier in the store. He opens the book, breathing in a wonderful smell of new paper and something falls out from between the pages. Picking it up, Kaneki realizes it’s a simple bookmark, probably coming along with the book. But he freezes, reading the text on it and for a long moment, there is only loud thumping of his heart to be heard in the room.

Kaneki dials Hide’s number before even fully realizing what he is doing. Part of him wants to hang up, but then his friend picks up eventually. “Kaneki? Something happened?” Hide sounds woken up from sleep, his words sluggish and muffled. “Told you I have to get up for work early tomorrow.”

He inhales sharply and starts in a small voice, “Since when did you know that I’m...” He is clutching the bookmark tightly, staring at the messy characters, unmistakably Hide’s handwriting.

 _I know. And it doesn’t change anything. Happy birthday, Kaneki_.

Hide remains quiet for a moment and when he finally speaks up, out of all things he can say, he goes for, “I really don’t know what I expected, for you to wait till December to open up a new book.” And he is _laughing_.

It seems surreal and Kaneki needs to sit down, trying to process this all. “Are we talking about the same thing, Hide?” he asks when Hide seems to catch a breath. “That I’m a-- a ghoul now?”

“The fact that you’re a half-ghoul, yeah.” He says that so... casually. “Sorry that I’m not being all shocked about this, but I’ve known for a while.”

“And you didn’t-- didn’t say anything?”

Hide seems to shift at the other end of the line. “Figured out you would tell me when you were ready. Well, either that, or you would find this bookmark, sooner or later. Still, I didn’t expect this to happen at like, almost midnight.”

Kaneki opens his mouth, but the words don’t come out. He thinks about how Hide was behaving in these last weeks, but now, he looks at it through the prism of knowing that he _knew_. And this is how he realizes something important -- Hide’s attitude towards him didn’t change. Yes, he was more observant and careful, but he still wanted to hang out at Anteiku, go to the bookstores or the movies. He still wanted to be his friend.

“Kaneki, you still here?”

Hide’s voice brings him back to present and suddenly, it seems like great part of the burden was lifted from Kaneki’s chest. He feels an awful less scared now.

“Hide?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

Hide is silent for a few seconds and when he replies, sounding like he is smiling, “Always, man” Kaneki knows he means it.

The next moment, he ruins the mood, though. “But you won’t start bringing, I don’t know, fingers instead of popcorn to the cinema, right? It would kinda make people freak out.”

Kaneki somehow fights off the urge to drop his phone or to hang up and he just settles for a sigh.


	2. day 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> day 2: _sunshine_ / studying together / trip to the arcade

“So like, can’t ghouls drink alcohol?”

“And why would you ask about that?”

“Just wondering if I should get drunk on your behalf sometime in the future.”

At that, Kaneki just gives Hide a long-suffering look and glances around, making sure for like a tenth time no one is sitting close enough to their spot on the university’s square. Apparently a lot of students decided on spending their break between the classes outside, just like them, though he doubts they are talking about ups and downs of a ghoul life. Hide seems to be a source of never-ending questions and it’s becoming a little tiring, but the thing is -- Hide is curious, but he isn’t pestering and that’s something Kaneki is grateful for.

“Anyway, if you ever get very drunk, Hide,” Kaneki answers after a moment, turning his head back to his friend, “I have a feeling that it would end up as a catastrophe for you and everyone else involved.” (He may mean himself mostly, though.)

“Aw, so cold, Kaneki.” Hide sighs deeply and looks up at the sky. “I was right to drag you out from the library, today’s weather will serve you well. Enjoy clear skies and sunshine while you can.”

Kaneki wants to notice that the weather has already began to change and most of people, unlike _a certain someone_ , started to wear coats and jackets, but. Hide is right, the weather is really pleasant today; warm enough to sit outside for a while and the way rays of light are catching on Kaneki’s skin makes him think that perhaps he has spent too much time in the dark recently. It feels good.

Still, the most endearing thing is watching how sunlight lingers in Hide’s hair, making it look something between light orange and soft golden, and the way his face seems unfairly bright just for one person. He remembers how their homeroom teacher from elementary school once said, “Isn’t Hideyoshi-kun an absolute sunshine?” and back then, Kaneki didn’t really understand what she meant. Over the course of years, however, he has learned that some people feel like they are embodiment of certain things and it applies to Hide as well. Maybe just now, when his friend had found out the truth, Kaneki started to appreciate the difference between burning in the rays of sun and basking in the warm sunlight. 

Hide snaps his fingers in front of him. “Don’t space out on me like that, Kaneki, even I know it’s not hot enough to get a heatstroke.”

Kaneki smiles at that and clears his throat. “Oh, I was just wondering if you are not late for your class,” he says, amused, seeing confusion on his friend’s face.

“Hm?” Hide glances at his phone and makes a face. “What a pity, and it feels so nice to sit here.” He sighs and gets up, taking the backpack. Before walking away, he calls out, “Catch some more sun for me too!”

Kaneki thinks he doesn’t really have to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hide is a human form of sun and i'm a total cliche bingo trapped in person, how do you go from talking about alcohol and getting drunk to very flowery descriptions of someone being a sunshine and all that in 500 words, haha


	3. day 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> day 3; moonlight / _dealing with a sick ghoul_ / sharing music

When Hide shows up at Kaneki’s doorstep with a stuffed bag hanging from his shoulder, ready to start ranting on and whining, he is greeted by, “Hide, what are you--” and a loud sneeze.

“It’s good to see you too,” Hide remarks, chuckling as he follows Kaneki inside. He decides on dropping his bag in the corridor for now and studies his friend’s face from a closer perspective. Then, he frowns. “Are you sick?”

“What? No--” Kaneki sneezes again. He scratches his reddened cheek. “Well, maybe a little.”

Hide snorts at this and takes in Kaneki’s silhouette. “Wait, don’t you tell me you’re going out in such state?”

When he came, Kaneki was apparently about to put on a jacket and now he is standing with it in his hand awkwardly. That makes Hide suspicious, because really.

“Uh, my shift starts soon…” he starts eventually and Hide shakes his head.

“No way, Kaneki, I know how bad your cold gets if you don’t take care of it right away,” he says outright and despite weak protests, Kaneki ends up hanging his jacket, giving up on trying to leave the house. “Besides, sorry, man, but you would be such a turn-off for customers like that, you don’t want to give Anteiku bad press, do you?” Then Hide pauses mid-movement, suddenly wondering. “Ghouls can get sick, huh? You don’t have some kind of super immune system or what?”

Kaneki sounds the tiniest bit amused (but mostly sick) when he answers, “Erythrocytes are one thing, but it’s leukocytes that specialize...”

“Okay, nevermind, please spare me this biology lesson,” Hide groans and shoots his friend a look. “And why aren’t you laying under a bunch of blankets already?”

Kaneki weakly rolls his eyes and goes to his small living room. Hide’s first step was to make some tea with lemon, assuming Kaneki had these in his kitchen, but then he remembers. _Ah_. Right. He doesn’t really know how to take care of a sick ghoul. But ghoul or not, it’s still Kaneki, so in this area, Hide has some experience.

Just as he finishes making coffee, he hears Kaneki’s phone ring.

“Hide? Who’s it?”

Picking up the phone from a pocket in the jacket on the way, Hide grins as he enters the room. “Touka-chan,” he informs and at that, Kaneki seems to sink deeper into the couch.

“Ah, right, she is probably waiting for me already...”

“Don’t worry, I will talk her through things.”

Kaneki makes a face. “Maybe it would be better if you gave it to me--”

But it’s too late as Hide accepts the call. He actually plans on being charming and all that, but before he can even open his mouth, he hears a voice that doesn’t really sound like Touka he knows. “You better not be late today, Kaneki.”

Hide blinks in surprise, but he manages a laugh in the end. “What a wonderful greeting, Touka-chan.”

The line is silent for a moment before the girl -- so unlike a moment earlier -- almost stutters out, “Uh. Hide-san?”

“One and only,” he confirms, sitting down on the couch. “Sorry for the sudden, but Kaneki caught a cold and he can’t come to work. Actually,” he continues, bringing the cup to his friend with other hand, “at this rate, I’m afraid he is about to die because of his runny nose.”

“Am not,” Kaneki protests, but still takes a cup from Hide, as well as a new pack of tissues.

“Oh, I see.” Touka sounds less angry than before, though there still is a sharp edge to her voice as she says, “But please tell him to call in sooner if that’s the case.”

“Will do,” he agrees, humming.

She is quiet for a few seconds before adding, “Please take care of the idiot.” And she hangs up before Hide can say, _You don’t have to tell me that_.

“Well, anyway, as you witnessed yourself, I handled the situation perfectly,” Hide congratulates himself out loud, giving the mobile back to Kaneki, who only snorts at that, but then his face goes serious.

“But Hide, remember, if Touka-chan or anyone else finds out that you know...”

Hide smiles softly at Kaneki. “Worry not, I can seem pretty clueless when I want to.”

“Yeah, right…”

Just when he turns on the TV, searching for something remotely interesting, Kaneki looks up from his mug and asks, “Ah, but did you come with a certain matter?”

Hide blinks. “Right!” He managed to almost forget. “It appears that there is something wrong with the wiring in my building, somebody called the owner and he called an electrician, and they decided it’s a serious matter -- well, point made, there were some sparks recently, once, almost a fire, you could say -- and we were told to leave the apartments for some time.”

“Some time?” Kaneki repeats, a little uncertain, and sneezes.

“Ah, a week…” Hide states, but then pauses and thinks back again. “Well, a few at worst! So please, will you shelter your best, currently homeless, friend?” He even folds his hands in a pleading manner.

“Uh, of course,” Kaneki says slowly. “But this is going to be a bit… uh...” 

Hide thinks he understand what Kaneki wants to say and he grins at that. “As long as I won’t stumble on some dead bodies in the freezer, we are cool.” He pauses and glances at his friend. “You don’t have dead bodies in the freezer, right?”

“Hide…”

In the end, they settle for a movie about Edo era and Kaneki doesn’t even call out all the possible historical inaccuracies -- probably because he doesn’t feel too well and he ends up falling asleep somewhere in the middle of it anyway. Hide gets himself the other blanket and decides to stay up. He will tell Kaneki tomorrow that the movie wasn’t _that_ bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hh this prompt was too cute to resist, i'm a weak human being


	4. day 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> day 4; play / animal ears / _borrowing each other’s clothes_

Kaneki thinks he is getting used to Hide living with him. Slowly.

Still, it is surprising to come back home and find -- instead of the overwhelming silence and stillness -- upbeat pop music blasting out somewhere inside (more often than not accompanied by singing Hide) or the smell of freshly-brewed coffee and some simple meal his friend made; this brings memories, but Kaneki likes to think they do not cause him bitterness, rather -- melancholy.

One afternoon, just as soon as he closes the door behind himself, Hide shows up in the corridor and calls out, “Finally! You need to help me out, Kaneki.”

“Good afternoon to you, too,” Kaneki says and looks at unusually fretting Hide. “Did something happen?” he asks then, almost expecting to hear something along the lines, _The washing machine broke, I have no idea how_ or _I was making pancakes and there was a small fire, but it’s not really that bad_.

Hide, however, answers, “I’m going to a job interview and I think I need a white shirt that looks decently enough not to discredit me from the start.” He gestures at himself. “I have taken care off the rest, only that left.”

Just now Kaneki notices that Hide is in fact wearing a pair of black trousers that could be labeled as a piece of smart clothing; he didn’t even know Hide had something like that. Surprisingly, it suits him. Kaneki is a little confused.

“Well, I suppose you could wear something of mine,” he states eventually, heading for his room. Hide scampers behind him. “But you didn’t mention anything about this interview yesterday?”

“Oh, that’s because I came across the offer going back from the grocery shop just today,” Hide explains, laughing. “It’s the same job I have now, delivering, but it’s paid better and has more flexible hours.”

Kaneki glances at him, cracking the door to the wardrobe open. “So you decided on going like, the moment you saw the offer? Without any preparation or whatsoever?”

“That’s called seizing the opportunity as it presents itself, Kaneki!” Hide grins. “You should try that, you know. Besides,” he adds, leaning against the doorframe, “I am troubling myself with dressing appropriately and all that, aren’t I?”

“Troubling yourself _and_ me, you wanted to say,” Kaneki corrects his friend. Hide just chuckles at that.

After some rustling through -- kind of numerous -- collection of white shirts, Kaneki finds one that should fit Hide. Their statures are not that much different, after all, with Hide being a few centimeters taller than him, he should be able to pull this one off.

“So, how do I look?”

Ah, he was right -- the shirt suits Hide just fine and matches with the trousers, making him look more serious. Actually, being honest, Hide looks _good_ in his shirt. This is a little unexpected and Kaneki suddenly feels hot, even though it’s almost December. 

“Fine,” Kaneki mumbles out eventually and coughs. “Does it fit?”

“Yeah, feeling pretty good.” Hide stretches his arms and looks down on himself. “Weird. Is it too big for you?”

“A little,” Kaneki says. “I don’t wear it that often, the sleeves are too long. And they have cuffs,” he adds and watches as Hide tries to handle them himself, which is quite funny. Sooner than later, he spares this to his friend. “Alright, leave it to me.”

Kaneki walks closer to Hide and starts to roll the cuffs. “It reminds me I haven’t seen you dressed that elegantly since high school probably,” he states, amused.

Hide puffs out his cheeks. “You make it sound like I dress like a delinquent or even worse,” he says accusingly. Then he frowns slightly. “But I don’t look like I’m trying too hard, right? I’m not trying to become a CEO of some international company, after all.”

At that, Kaneki laughs and shakes his head. “No, it’s perfect like that.”

“Good.” Hide smiles and claps him on the shoulders. “Thanks! Okay, I have to get going, I should not be late, huh?”

“Good luck,” Kaneki says instead of goodbye and watches Hide leave. Just then he notices that he walked out in a pair of sneakers -- not his most worn out ones, but he could have chosen wiser. Kaneki sighs.

…

Almost two hours later Kaneki is half-lying, half-sitting on the couch, reading a book and drinking coffee. In Hide’s hoodie.

There is a good explanation for that -- it got awfully cold inside the rooms later, making Kaneki wonder if there is something wrong with the central heating. He was about to put one of his sweaters, but then Hide’s obnoxiously green hoodie caught his eye. Kaneki has never been the one for flashy colours, unlike his friend, but this one was thick and it was hanging from the kitchen chair; Hide has this habit of leaving things around. And Kaneki borrowed him the shirt, after all, so it seemed fair this way.

Now, he is sitting by himself, finally warm and surrounded by Hide’s smell; a mix of coffee (everything seems to smell of it nowadays), strawberry cake Hide probably ate in a confectionary the other day and a herbal shampoo he uses now because, _they didn’t have the peach one, can you believe it, Kaneki_. And it feels, well, _good_ , for the lack of better word. 

Kaneki’s phone buzzes and he finds a message from Hide. _Got the job!! Will be late though, you don’t have to wait up for me_. He texts back simple, _Congratulations_. So the sneakers didn’t get in the way in the end; Kaneki chuckles at that thought.

He ends up falling asleep, still wearing the hoodie.

(The next day, Kaneki almost ends up being late to work and is utterly confused as to why Touka -- and Hinami, for that matter -- keeps shooting him weird glares and looks like she wants to ask about something, but doesn’t spill a word after all.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please imagine touka's confusion because like. _why is kaneki almost soaked in hide's smell. this is a little suspicious. should i ask. but do i wanna now_. touka acting her age pfft.
> 
> also this turned out longer than i planned, but what a fun this prompt was haha


	5. day 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> day 5: rest / trading massages / _on break_

Kaneki is on his way to the nearest shop -- they have run out of milk for human customers at Anteiku, _somehow_ just around his time off -- when his phone rings. He pulls it out and smiles a little, seeing the caller’s ID.

“What is it, Hide?” he asks after accepting the call. “Aren’t you at work now?”

“Got stuck in a traffic jam while delivering,” his friend complains and Kaneki can hear the sounds from the street in the background. “I am bored.”

Kaneki chuckles at that pushes the door to the shop open. “So you’re calling to distract me while I’m working, that’s so thoughtful of you.”

“Don’t pretend to get annoyed, you absolutely love my quirky and charming behavior,” Hide replies and Kaneki rolls his eyes. “Besides, I know you have a break now.” He is silent for a moment and then asks, “Speaking of which, how is Nishio-senpai doing?”

“Um, fine.” Kaneki’s free hand freezes in the air as he reaches for a bottle of the milk. The cashier gives him a weird look, but he doesn’t really care. “He is trying, in his own way, I suppose.”

Kaneki doesn’t really know what to tell Hide, considering what happened back then in the alley and how the tables have turned recently. He thinks that Hide’s life would be much more normal, easier -- _safer_ \-- if he didn’t find out in the first place. But now, when he knows and they are living together, Kaneki finds it hard, impossible even, to keep things from him; Hide knows him too well not to notice when his mood shifts and Kaneki ends up talking more often than not these days. And, as selfish as it makes him feel sometimes, to burden Hide with his problems, it actually _helps_.

“I can hear gears in your brain working from here, you now,” Hide says with a light chuckle. “We talked about this yesterday, no hard feelings -- well, okay, I don’t really _like_ the fact he wanted to eat me and all that, but if Anteiku is going to help him, I’m curious how it’s going to turn out.”

“It’s not really what a normal person would say in such situation,” Kaneki states with a tiny smile and Hide snorts, somewhat offended, “but it’s very much like you. Thank you.”

“Yeah, alright, go insult me and then thank me, so kind of you,” Hide teases, but there’s little of bite to it. Kaneki finally takes the milk and pays at the cash.

“No, I really mean it, Hide.” The cold wind hits his flushed cheeks when he steps outside the shop. Kaneki finds it much easier to say this on the phone, but he still feels embarrassed when he continues, “Thank you for being here. Somehow, since you found out, moved in, it’s… brighter.”

Hide hums and there is a smile in his voice when he says, “I’m glad to hear that, Kaneki. You should say such cute things more often, you know.”

“I wonder,” he mutters jokingly, but maybe he should consider it indeed.

“Ah!” Hide speaks then, a little too loud. “Looks like we finally get to move. It’s been ages.”

“Be careful,” Kaneki reminds him, heading back to Anteiku.

“Don’t worry, I will watch out for purple people eaters with weird fashion taste.”

“I actually meant the traffic, Hide.”


	6. day 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> day 6; _waiting_ / pulling an all-nighter / surprise birthday party

The coffee has gone cold, old jazz songs are quietly playing on the radio and Hide is waiting.

Kaneki told him (sounding so wonderfully embarrassed and sincere, it hurts to recall that now) that since he had moved in, the house became brighter, but now Hide thinks it takes two to make up for the loneliness. A few of Kaneki’s books are dropped all around the place, Hide’s hoodies are taking a great amount of space, the cupboard is stuffed with different brands of coffee and there is still that crossword they struggled on solving before laying on the kitchen table, so close he could reach out and touch it. Even so, it all feels miles away.

He can’t really put a finger on everything that happened in the last days, but these are the facts: 11th ward is in chaos and it’s bad, Kaneki hasn’t come home in days and the only thing Touka told him after he somehow managed to reach her, not really caring that she will find out he knows, was, _Please wait_.

It’s half to midnight on December 20th and Hide has been waiting for quite some time, actually. But at this point it’s the only thing he can do, so he waits.

…

Hide is in this strange place between falling asleep and sleeping when he hears the front door being unlocked.

He springs up from the chair, regardless of the protests of his numbed body. Before stepping out from the kitchen, Hide wishes for the lump in his throat to go away and takes a breath to prepare for whatever he is going to deal with. The corridor is almost pitch black, moonlight not reaching far enough and he can barely make out the silhouette by the door.

“You didn’t have to pick your own lock, Kaneki,” he says.

The silhouette jerks suddenly and if it wasn’t for the fact Hide has known Kaneki for years, he wouldn’t recognize him. “I wasn’t sure if you were still…” _still here_ looms between them, but what Hide hears is, “still awake. Didn’t want to wake you up.” Kaneki’s words are unmistakably his, but the voice is so hoarse, like he has been crying ( _or screaming, or both_ ) for a long time.

Hide’s chest feels awfully tight as he takes a few steps to close the distance. Kaneki smells of blood, smoke, sweat and something ghoul-like, making this the first time he sees him like that. But Hide isn’t afraid. When he asks, “And wherever else would I be?” and gently pulls Kaneki into his arms, he realizes that the only thing that is clear to him right now is his own heart.

Kaneki tenses, inhaling sharply and for a moment, it feels like he is going to pull away. Hide wishes he won’t and says, “It’s alright now.” At that, something in Kaneki seems to break; he goes limp, but his hands clench tightly on Hide’s shirt as he rests his forehead on his shoulder.

“No, it’s not,” he whispers. “It’s-- It’s wrong, Hide, this world.” He sounds so sure about it, it sends shivers down Hide’s spine. “Wrong, wrong, wrong, _wrong_ \--” Kaneki falls silent as suddenly as he spoke up, but Hide has this unsettling feeling he is still going on about this in his head.

There are not nearly enough things he can do and even less he can say, and that makes him feel at loss. Perhaps the world is wrong indeed. He rubs Kaneki’s back and starts tracing soothing circles on it. And this time, he just says, “I’m here.”

Kaneki is quiet for a long moment, his breathing still uneven. Then he replies, “Yes, you are. You are here.” It sounds like he reassures himself. “To pick me up as always. But I’m not sure if-- if you can do that this time, Hide, if anyone can.” And before Hide has a chance to say something, Kaneki starts again, “I’m going to change this wrong world, I’m going to--”

“You can start tomorrow,” Hide interrupts him softly. Kaneki’s words imply a lot of things and somehow, Hide doesn’t get the best feeling about any of them. “You need to rest.”

“I won’t fall asleep--” Kaneki says, but pauses. He takes a shuddering breath. “I think it’s already tomorrow.”

“It’s not tomorrow until you sleep,” Hide protests.

That gets a weak sound out of Kaneki -- it’s not a laugh or even a chuckle, it actually feels very far from that, but he sighs and finally unclenches his fists clasped tight on Hide’s shirt till now. He mutters something so quietly that Hide doesn’t catch it, but they stay like this for some time and just when Hide notices Kaneki’s breathing has evened out, he nudges him to sleep.

…

Hide can’t say they got a lot of rest; it was a hard night. But when he eventually opens his eyes after some shallow sleep, he finds Kaneki laying next to him, looking like he may wake up at the slightest sound, but he is still here. Hide takes him all in; his fingertips hover over white hair for a moment, barely touching, and he thinks (hopes) that he will be able to reach out to Kaneki one more time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know, i saw prompts for this day and i was like “oh i can totally fit aogiri arc into this” so i started writing and then i was like. what was i thinking, _i can’t do this_. but welp i struggled through this and here we are
> 
> i’m sorry i shall atone with fluff tomorrow


	7. day 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> day 7; _lasts_ / settling in / anything

That morning, Kaneki wakes up to three things: a little cold, but surprisingly fresh May wind making its way inside through an open window, a lingering taste of Arabic coffee in his mouth and Hide snoring a few inches from his face like there is no tomorrow. First two are pleasant and the third is… well, it’s Hide, so he doesn’t mind that much, but.

Kaneki gives him a not-too-hard nudge that succeeds in making Hide’s snoring stop. But also apparently wakes him up, as he drools out, not opening his eyes, “Waddaya want?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Kaneki says, snuggling closer to him. “But you were snoring. Again.”

“Hm?” Hide cracks one eye open and yawns. “Told you, it’s because of this damn mattress. I can’t believe you’ve been sleeping on it for so long.”

This gets Kaneki to chuckle; such a lame excuse. But he can let Hide get away with it this time.

“Well, if that’s the case, it’s good we are moving out today, isn’t it?” Hide’s neck always smells so nice and feels so warm, Kaneki is kind of jealous, except for the fact he isn’t, since he has Hide like that for himself.

Hide finally wraps his arms around him; his reactions are a little slow and still sleepy. “Ah, that’s today,” he states out loud, sounding a little dumb struck, like he could forget the last days spent on packing the boxes and such. “At what time Yomo-san and the rest are supposed to come help us with the stuff?”

“Around eleven.”

“Hm, it’s still early.” Hide’s breath tickles Kaneki’s hair and forehead. “Do you think Touka-chan can lift that huge box with the kitchenware?”

Kaneki blinks. “Probably?”

“Geez,” Hide groans out, “this is going to be so embarrassing for a mere human like me.”

“I think you meant _wonderful_ human like you,” Kaneki corrects him and it’s been a while now, but he still feels his cheeks get a little hotter and he is glad to keep his face in the crook of Hide’s neck.

Hide chuckles. “Aw, how dare you say such sappy things so early in the morning and with your face hidden?” Kaneki feels Hide nuzzling into his hair. “Did you sleep well?”

Kaneki makes an affirmative sound in response; he managed to get through this night without any nightmares which was happening more often recently. He considers this a nice change.

In the silence that falls afterwards, Kaneki can hear -- feel -- Hide’s heartbeat very well. In most of cases, when he jolts awake in the middle of the night, it wakes Hide up too, but sometimes the break to the reality comes less abruptly and he has no heart to bring him out of sleep, being left alone in the dark. But Kaneki knows that’s not quite true, so in these moments, he finds the most calming, soothing comfort in listening to Hide’s heartbeat as he cuddles closer. At that time, Kaneki thinks the world can’t be wrong altogether, not if there is somebody like Hideyoshi Nagachika.

Who, for some reason, is trying to get out of bed. Kaneki frowns.

“What are you doing?”

Hide stops mid-movement, looking back at him, eyebrow raised. “Hm, I wanted to be a responsible one for once and go make some coffee and breakfast for myself.”

“We have a lot of time,” he protests, dragging Hide back under the sheets. It’s not hard, since he doesn’t really resist much. “It’s the last morning here, after all.”

“But I’m telling you, they are not going to take us away from this room in the bed,” Hide states, nuzzling his nose against Kaneki’s cheek. “Because, first of all, we are not taking this bed, or rather, this mattress.”

Kaneki rolls his eyes at that. “Yes, we decided on that. Don’t worry, we will get up on time.”

More often than not, Kaneki is glad that Hide stayed, years ago and not so long ago; every time, someone could say. And he doesn't regret that he stayed, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they probably didn’t get up on time, don’t you think
> 
> well, so hidekane week came to an end! it’s been fun and i’m happy i ended up writing smth for every prompt for this au, hope you enjoyed the ride and thank you for reading ;u;
> 
> as always, feel free to shoot me a msg on [tumblr](http://yomosan.tumblr.com/) & have a nice day!
> 
> edit: now this comes with [a sequel](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3531527) of sorts!


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